Sweetest Dreams
by gods sent angel
Summary: Timmy's having bad dreams, and his god parents can't figure out how to stop it. Maybe an old friend of theirs could help...if they can get her to agree. R&R Rated to be EXTREMELY safe, slight cussing only.
1. Screams in the night

A/N Mom! She's doing it again!!! Lol! Yeah, I know, I'm a horrible person for starting another fanfic while I leave my other ones to rot. But that's not true! #1 because I have NO intention of abandoning my other stories, I'm just...having issues with them... and #2 I came up with this at work the other day because I was bored of stocking YARN (yes, I work in a crafts shop. What do you expect? I'm 17!) and I needed to do something. This actually started as a Quantum Leap story, believe it or not and ended up as a FOP because...well...it just did! Anyways, this is one in a series, which ooOOoo won't be staying in this section, because it covers several series. Great, huh? Actually there's a lot of original work in this, too and if people like it enough, I might make it completely original and try to publish. YAY!!! Um, anyways, This story has a lot of hidden stuff in it and if you can find it, you know your...HA! Won't give it away! snicker Well enjoy!

I Do own all of the following::: Guardians, Dream Sprites, and any other things that might pop up. Other than that, I don't own a darn.

Oh, and sorry for any OOCness. I'm having trouble seperating Al from Cosmo shudders scary thought...

Timmy shot up in his bed, his small eleven year old body drenched with sweat and his face tear and snot streaked. Seconds earlier he had been screaming bloody murder and begging for mercy from whatever had been haunting his dreams. Cosmo and Wanda watched anxiously from their watery home as Timmy pulled his knees into his chest and began to convulse with tears again. Seconds later his parents were in his room, stroking him and trying to sooth his fears. Timmy slipped his hands around his mother's waist in a state of half awareness and began to sob again, though less physically racking this time.

"Cosmo! Wanda!" he wailed into his mother's robe. "Please don't go! Please, I promise I'll never do it again! Don't leave me!" He was crying so hard by this time that he was beginning to hyperventilate, dragging in raspy, choked breaths as he repeated over and over again; "I need you! I need you!"

Mrs. Turner held her child as he dug his fingers into her sides and buried his face as far into her as he could. She wrapped her arms around him protectively and stroked his hair as her eyes turned from her son to her husband with worry and fright. Mr. Turner rubbed his son's back as he whispered to him that it would be alright; that it was only a dream, and his goldfish were still right there on his bed stand. He glanced over, partly to make sure, and partly to avoid his wife's gaze, and noticed that the fish seemed to be watching the ordeal with equally frightened and perplexed expressions. He didn't recognize how out of place that was, or the crowns floating above their heads, or even the overly large shape and odd colour of their eyes. Neither did they notice or care that he was staring at them.

Finally, after several minutes of this, Timmy woke up. He seemed panicked when he saw his parents there, and whipped around to see Cosmo and Wanda floating there in their aquatic home with intensely concerned looks on their faces. Timmy sighed and almost started to cry again with relief. He was brought back to reality by his mother's worried voice behind him.

"Timmy?" she asked with a hint of panic in her voice. "Are you alright, honey? We were so worried about you." Timmy turned back to her and smiled weakly.

"Yeah," he assured as he wiped his nose on his sleeve and began to snort the rest of it back into place, "I'm fine. What a bad dream. I dreamed you and Dad got killed and then Vicky was trying to kill my goldfish and then..." Timmy caught himself and stumbled on his words. Cosmo and Wanda nearly tripped over themselves with anticipation, hoping to find out what it was that had frightened him so badly. "Uh..." he paused, "I forget. But it was really bad." His mother smiled at him tenderly.

"Well," she sighed, "at least you're okay now. I have to go comfort your father now. Seeing you having a nightmare scared him so bad he had to go to the bathroom to cry." With that she left, leaving Timmy with his goldfish, though not for long.

Almost as soon as the door shut Cosmo and Wanda were by Timmy's side. Wanda put her arm around his shoulders and felt them trembling a little. Cosmo knelt in front of him, hands braced on his godson's legs as he leaned in to his face, searching deep into his eyes.

"Sweetie," Wanda asked, "do you want to talk about it? It seemed like you couldn't tell your mom, but maybe you could tell us." Timmy sniffed and nodded.

"I woke up and it was the middle of the night, and I heard someone downstairs. I heard mom screaming and I ran over to see what was wrong and there was someone standing over her and there was blood everywhere. Dad was choking on blood and shaking mom and Vicki was standing over them laughing with a knife covered in blood. I started running and she was chasing me and I ran into my bedroom but she was already there gutting Wanda and," he turned to Cosmo who was trying to capture every detail through the rush of words, "you were crying, and then Vicki pulled out your heart," he said diverting his gaze to Wanda who was still holding his shoulders, "and ate it. She just smiled at me and then started chasing me.

"I ran downstairs and I was in Mr. Crocker's classroom. Cosmo was crying in the corner and I tried to get him to help me, but he couldn't hear me. Then Crocker came up behind me and the class was full of people, and Crocker started screaming that I had fairy godparents. Jorgen came to take Cosmo away, Wanda, you were there again, and Jorgen asked if you wanted to stay. You both looked at me with disgust and said 'Ew! Why would we want to stay with him? He's stupid, unmannerly, and not popular.' Then you left and Vicki and Crocker grabbed me and started dragging me off. That's when I woke up. But it was so real. I honestly thought it happened."

Cosmo and Wanda both hugged him tightly when he finished. Neither of them had suspected it was quite that bad. They shot worried looks at each other behind Timmy's back as they embraced him. When they released him finally they both continued to hold him; Wanda his arm and Cosmo his hand. Looking up at them he seemed so small and helpless.

"What's wrong with me?" he sniffled as he tried to clear off the last signs of trauma from his face.

"Nothing's wrong with you, sweetie," Wanda cooed. "Everyone has bad dreams."

"Yeah," Cosmo agreed. "Even dreams have bad dreams." Timmy ignored his comment assuming it was just Cosmo being himself. He didn't notice Wanda glare at her counterpart.

"Can't you make them stop?" he asked, turning to his godmother with a pleading look on his face. Wanda felt herself melting into a helpless puddle inside.

"Oh, honey, I wish I could," she apologized, "but that's not under our jurisdiction."

"Sleep related wishes have to be run by the Sand Man," Cosmo explained. "And beyond that, no one can control your dreams. They're part of you." Timmy looked at his godfather, confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Dreams are from your subconscious, Timmy," Wanda answered. "No one can control what's in your subconscious except you, by what you watch, listen to, read, and do. That's just how it works."

"Well, isn't there someone who can help me?" he asked desperately.

"For now, just go back to sleep," Wanda told him. He sat up as she tried to tuck him in.

"But every time I go to sleep they get worse," he complained. Wanda looked at him seriously.

"Timmy," she asked, "how long has this been happening?"

"About a week," he answered in a hushed tone. "They just keep getting worse."

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" she asked.

"We can't help you when you don't tell us things," Cosmo added. Timmy sighed and nodded.

"I guess you're right," he said. "I probably should have told you." Wanda tucked him in again and kissed him on the forehead. She then turned out the lights and left Timmy to slumber.

When both faeries had finally gotten the child to sleep, Cosmo and Wanda retreated to their home. Cosmo seemed concerned but Wanda was completely out of sorts. They could here Timmy whimpering again. Cosmo glanced at the door warily, ready to bolt if Timmy's cries escalated at all. Wanda paced the area inside the fishbowl uneasily.

"We've got to do something for Timmy," Wanda said finally. Cosmo looked at her and smiled sadly.

"Like what?" he asked her gently. He went over to her and sat her down, sitting beside her as he waited for her to answer.

"What if I could get help?" she asked.

"From who?" Cosmo countered. "You know as well as I do that no one can interfere with dreams."

"This isn't interfering," Wanda protested. "This is eliminating. And that's completely acceptable."

"Wanda..." Cosmo warned. "We can't."

"I know we can't, but there are those who can," Wanda replied. She stood and turned to her husband. "I'll be back. If Timmy wakes up again, stall him." Before Cosmo could object, Wanda was gone. He sighed. This could only lead to trouble.

A/N Yay! Hope you liked! I forgot to warn you at the beginning that I tend to write Cosmo smarter than he's thought to be. _MUCH_ smarter. Some people don't like that, but I do. Oh! And so you all know...this will be a Quantum Leap x-over, but don't worry. It's nothing stupid, and basically just some cameo appearances every once in a while to tie it in with a timeline in another one of my stories (which as of the time I posted this, isn't written yet). Have fun!!!


	2. Old aquaintances

A/N YAY! A second chapter! Okay, all my fans

muse 1 laughs in the shadows Muse 1::: fans!?! Don't kid yourself!

glares at muse me::: you shut up.

Muse 2::: well...he's right.

glares at other muse me::: Don't even go there... back to audience (you guys happy now? muses nod) Any ways, I don't own FOP or this new place-that-I'm-not-going-to-name-but-it-should-be-easy-to-guess. Have fun, guys!

Wanda appeared in a field on the outskirts of the city. The warm sun shown down on her, warming every inch of her body, and a soft breeze gently caressed her. She looked bellow her and saw the emerald blades of grass, shimmering in the sun. Flowers of every shade and variety dotted the valley for as far as the eye could see. She yearned to lay in the grass and rest, then run as fast as she could, for as long as she could. She sighed. She knew she couldn't afford the luxury, as she was here for Timmy. She brushed thoughts of frolicking from her mind and headed toward the city. This would be difficult.

As she neared the city, she noticed she was coming in by the northern most of the twelve gates surrounding it. The glossy orange-ish red wall surrounding the city gave it a royal air and the gates were carved out of a single pearl. Above the walls she could see buildings of pure gold towering in the air. As she neared the gates swung open, easily and fluidly, to reveal sparkling city. The gates closed behind her with the same fluidity as they had opened and left her standing in the glass like streets.

As she floated down one of the many paths she noticed a familiar face above the crowd. He seemed to radiate a light brighter than any other around him, but with so many people, it was hard to tell. She watched as the shining figure floated down a walkway with its head bent in concentration. _Probably buried in a book or scroll_, she thought. _At least, if it is him._ She moved toward the figure trying to make sure she was right about the identity before calling out to it. As she passed the last group of people separating him from her line of sight she took in the full details of the being and was able to confirm her speculation. She smiled.

"Gabriel!" She yelled. The man turned toward her. She rushed at him and when he saw her nearing he smiled. He was the vision of loveliness. No one on any planet or dimension could outshine him, except his father. He had crystalline eyes that had no colour yet had every colour in them, and his hair was a light blonde that seemed to glow, as did his skin. There was a kindness about him, and everyone was happy to be near him. Wanda made a halting stop in front of him and beamed.

"Wanda!" He laughed. "Where've you been?"

"Oh, just working," she said happily. "New charge; he's a sweet kid. "Gabriel smiled at her as he called up a list.

"Who is he?" he asked as he poured over the sheet.

"Timmy Turner," she replied. "Year of A.D. 2000." She didn't even bother to stop him. Any one who knew him knew he loved lists almost as much as reading them. It didn't matter that he had all the knowledge of every living thing, and much that was unknown to any of them; he just liked to bury his face in paper.

Gabriel honed in a specific area of the paper and then nodded.

"Timmy Turner, age 11?" he verified. Wanda nodded.

"Good kid," Gabriel commented as the paper vanished. "Needs to work on some rusty spots, though. Has a propensity to lie."

"But with good intentions," Wanda defended. Gabriel nodded.

"But it doesn't change the fact that that's against the rules," he admonished. "Although he's good about not cussing, I'll admit. It's hard to find a kid like that, now days. He might need to cut back on the TV a little. Getting close to violating one through three with that contraption, you know."

"I've tried," Wanda protested. "He just won't leave it. He's obsessed with the thing."

"Well, other than that I see no danger," Gabriel said, moving on. "So what brings you here?"

"He's actually has been having some trouble," Wanda explained, "which is why I'm here. He's been having horrible dreams about losing everything, and I was wondering if I could find some help." Gabriel gave her a firm look and she felt herself break.

"Wanda..." he said testily. "You know you can't do that." She pouted.

"At least let me try," she begged. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he sighed jokingly. "If you can get one to agree, you can try. Now, Father needs me for a while. Will I see you later?"

"Maybe," Wanda replied as her old time friend sped off. She smiled and headed for the one place she knew she would find help; The Glade.

As she flitted into the glade she noticed the darkness. It was always twilight here, and very peaceful, as with the rest of this place. Fireflies flickered about casting a lulling glow over the vicinity. There was a great willow tree in the middle of the glade where all the creatures which entered here migrated to. It was the epicenter of the dell, the haven for which the glade became so popular. As Wanda neared it she felt drowsiness settle on her. A soft tune thrummed through the air almost too faint to be heard. She forced herself to stay awake as she neared the tree and saw the person she had been looking for.

At the base of the tree was a girl. She was willowy, with hair of soft brown like downy feathers, but her face was hidden and her light was almost non existent. As she drew nearer, the melody became resilient, and the urge to sleep was overwhelming. Wanda pressed on sleepily, determined not to succumb to the power of the lullaby.

"Would you stop before I kill over?" she asked with a yawn. The music filling the air stopped abruptly as the girl turned to her. Any fancy of beauty that might have been harbored about the girl vanished as she looked up at Wanda. It took all she had not to cringe and flee. Her skin seemed to be rotting off of her bones, her eyes were a dull brown and they had a sickly yellow tint to them. Her lips were blue and cracking as she smiled up at the fairy before her. Some of the creatures sleeping in the glade awoke at the songs ending and left, others merely rolled over, but most stayed fast asleep under its power. Wanda tried not to stare at the poor girl.

"Wanda!" The girl exclaimed. "It's been forever! What is it now? 5,000 years?" Wanda tried not to panic as she realized just who she was looking at. This decaying corpse had once been one of her best friend's little sister.

"Seven," Wanda corrected. "Oh, Guinness, what happened to you?" The girl hid her face again, the tree drawing in around her as she summoned it.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I forgot. Most people never get this far in, and if they do, they're so entranced by the Song that they don't even see me." Wanda saw her closing herself in and moved forward into the foliage.

"Oh no," she apologized, "I didn't mean it like that, Guinny, I was just shocked. You were so healthy last we saw you." Wanda admonished herself inwardly as she said it. They hadn't seen each other in so long it wouldn't be surprising if the poor thing had died in the mean time. She had always been the frail one. Guinness smiled forgivingly at her.

"I understand," she assured. "But you must have come here for a reason," she said, changing the subject. "What do you need?" Wanda felt a wave of relief at the change of pace.

"My new godchild is having issues," she explained. "He's been having horrible dreams, and they're starting to get out of hand. He almost revealed me and Cosmo in a state of panic this evening. He didn't mean to," she hurried to explain, "He was still half asleep when his parents came in and he didn't know it was them and not us." Guinness scrunched up her face in concentration. Wanda remembered when she had been the cutest thing alive when she did that. Now she kept dropping rotten flesh when she did it. Repressing a shudder she tried to turn her mind back to the business at hand.

"Hmm," the girl said slowly. "Well, I don't know...Maybe you should ask Rorin. I've been sick for so long, I don't know anything," she explained.

"What's Rorin doing here?" Wanda asked, ignoring the comment about Guinny's health.

"Oh, he's on level 16 probation for forced entry into a guardian's mind. Poor Nana is taking care of all three of our Dreamers. I don't know how she does it."

"I guess that means she can't help, then," Wanda sighed.

"Oh no," Guinness said, shaking her head furiously. When no skin fell of she smiled at herself before continuing. "She should be able to with minimum rearranging. They're all..." Guinness stopped herself. "...uh..." she fished for a second before amending herself. "...in the same time zone."

Wanda knew that wasn't the whole truth, though at least part of it, as you couldn't lie here. But it wasn't allowed to give away information here, either. Each group was supposed to keep to their own, and even within the group information could be precious. Wanda looked in the direction Guinny had pointed and saw a hole in the side of the tree. She ducked inside to find Rorin sitting behind a desk looking rather bored. Rorin was Guinny's older brother by about 200 years. He was one of the only dreams to have the ability to completely manipulate a dream. He could selectively insert or delete any thing, or any body at will, and against theirs. All Dreams could erase dreams and put in new ones, but they weren't able to alter only parts of a dream to their liking, and especially not against the will of their Dreamer.

As Wanda flew up to the desk Rorin sighed.

"Who, where, and what do you want?" he asked with a bored tone. He didn't even look at her, just studied his nails like she was beneath him.

"Well," she stated coarsely, "I need to see Nana, where ever she is, and I would like at least a hello from you would be nice, mister I-can't-even-say-hello-to-an-old-friend!" Rorin snapped his head around to look at her, breaking into a huge smile simultaneously.

"Wanda?" he asked.

"In the spirit!" she confirmed.

"Where the Seven Wonders have you been?" he exclaimed. "Hey, where's Cos'? Don't tell me you two split. I have to hurt you if you broke his heart." The last he said overly threateningly and Wanda knew he meant it. Him and Cosmo had been good friends their whole life, as had she and him. There had been six of them that had hung out together constantly.

"No, Cosmo's at home watching our godchild," she assured him. "He's having some dreams that I think need looking into, and I know Nana knows every one and every thing. She's such a gossip machine!" Rorin smiled.

"I don't know anymore," he argued. "She's been pulling three Dreamers down there, and she never comes up except to see if Guinny is recovering. But she never stays very long."

"What's she doing down there?" Wanda asked, hoping to get some information. Rorin smiled slyly at her.

"You know I can't ell you that, Wanda," he replied. "But she might. One fairy going to New Mexico, A.D. 1998." As Wanda disappeared, she smirked. Rorin never let her down.

Okay, I know none of this makes sense. You probably want to know what a Dreamer is and what the heck is going on with this. Don't worry, give me two, maybe three more chapters and I'll outright tell you. Two chapters and I'll start to show you. Just so you know (because I hate stories that bounce unexpectedly) next chapter will be back with Timmy and Cosmo. Well, Cosmo. Any ways, R&R!!!!


	3. The rules can not be broken

A/N Yeee!!!! Chappie three! Chappie three! huggles muses Okay, well, I know that the story is kinda _really_ confusing right now, but don't worry, all is explained as the story goes on. I don't own FOP. If I did, Timmy would be a minor role and Cosmo and Wanda's love would be center stage...and Cosmo would be _WAY_ smarter. Anyways, have fun! Remember, I write Cosmo as smarter than the series.

Cosmo stared at the spot where Wanda had vanished just seconds ago and worried. He knew what she was planning, but it just wasn't a good idea. He wringed his hands and bit his lip as he listened to Timmy's fitful sleeping. Thankfully he didn't seem to be having such horrible dreams as he had been having earlier to wake him up, but Cosmo still wasn't at ease.

When he was sure Timmy's parents couldn't hear his cries, Cosmo materialized himself next to his godson. He looked sympathetically at his poor charge as he tossed and turned. Sweat was breaking out all over him as he continued to mewl pathetically. Cosmo seated himself next to the boy's head and moved it into his lap. He began to stroke Timmy's hair gently and hum a tune he had tried to learn a long time ago. He knew his attempts at singing were dismal at best, but any thing he could do for the child was worth a try. As he sang he remembered how he first learned the song.

When he and Wanda had taken on their first child, she had had the same trouble with disturbing dreams. Not as bad as Timmy's were now, but unsettling to the poor eight year old girl. Her name had been Lilith, he remembered. A friend of theirs had told them that if she ever got out of hand, to sing the melody to her. He was surprised that Wanda hadn't tried it, but she really couldn't sing either.

As the strains of the song flitted about the room Timmy became still. Cosmo let out a sigh of relief. Timmy stirred in his lap.

"Cosmo?" he wondered groggily.

"Yes?" Cosmo answered softly, still stoking the boy's hair. A tear ran out of the corner of Timmy's eye and landed on Cosmo's leg.

"Why did you kill Wanda?" he asked. Cosmo steeled himself; Timmy was still dreaming.

"I don't know," he replied, playing along. It hurt, hearing his godson accuse him of murdering his wife. He couldn't imagine life without her, let alone create the life alone.

"Cosmo!?" Timmy panicked. "Where are you going?" The small boy began to toss once more. Remembering Wanda's insistence on keeping him asleep until she returned, he began to sing again. The room became quiet and still, as if even the very house were falling asleep on its foundation. Timmy whimpered a cry as he fell back into the enchanted sleep. Cosmo placed his hands on the boy's head and prayed.

"Jehovah, please make this stop," he pleaded. Timmy convulsed and shot up with a shout. "Timmy! What's wrong?" Cosmo asked worriedly. "Did you have another dream again?"

"Yeah," Timmy answered, holding his head. "I had a dream you killed Wanda."

"Why would I do that?" Cosmo retorted with genuine confusion.

"I don't know, I just..." Timmy trailed off and looked around. "Hey, where is Wanda?" Cosmo fished around in his mind desperately for an excuse.

"Uh..." he stalled, "I can't tell you." Timmy looked at him in horror.

"Cosmo," he pleaded, "where's Wanda? What did you do with her?"

"I didn't do anything with her," he shot back. His nerves were starting to grow thin. "I'm just not allowed to tell you. It's in Da Rules."

"Yeah right," Timmy scoffed as he backed toward the door. Cosmo stayed on the bed, knowing that if he pursued Timmy he would only make it look worse.

'Timmy," he said warningly.

"I don't believe you," Timmy said defiantly.

"It's true!"

"Then show me."

"I can't."

"Why not? Because it's not there?"

"No, because it's against the rules to show you. Here."

Cosmo summoned a copy of the rules and flipped to a page. Covering the code above it with his hand, he showed Timmy the rule in question. Timmy stared at it in disbelief.

_Under no circumstances is the above rule to be exposed to a human of any planet or plane._

"Planet or plane?" Timmy balked. "What does that mean?"

"Read the next one," Cosmo answered.

_The future and all its contents are to be hidden from recipients of the past. The timeline shall not be tampered with in any way, or revealed under any conditions. See section 145637B for exemptions and special cases._

"What's that got to do with my question?" Timmy asked, crossing his arms.

"Humans haven't discovered the other planets or planes yet. Not really," Cosmo explained, mindlessly.

"But we have other planets," Timmy countered, not even noticing the information he had just been given was from the future. "And we know there are at least four planes, as well, as mathematical planes. Believe me, I wish we hadn't." Cosmo smiled as his godchild made a face at his mention of math.

"You still don't know enough," Cosmo said. "Now go back to sleep. Wanda will be mad if she sees you awake when she gets back."

A/N Am I confusing you peoples out of your mind yet? . I hoped so!!! R&R! Chappie four is back with Wanda for you un-jumpy people like me. .


	4. Project QL

Wanda came to in the desert. It was dark, and a bitter cold was starting to set in. Ahead of her she saw a mountain crackling with blue tendrils of electricity. She felt a slight nudge on her mind to go towards it. She obliged, knowing the sensation to be a sort of homing device of the Dream Sprites'. Looking up she sighed. It was just like Rorin to make her life difficult, she observed to herself. In the not so far off distance she heard a coyote begin to howl and shivered. She decided it was time to head toward the familiar tug at her consciousness.

As she neared she noticed that there wasn't any entrance, not that that surprised her. She twitched her wand and was inside the strange place, disguised as a potted fern. She watched as a man walked by her and headed for a desk in the center of the room. She reached out with her soul and felt for the entity, but there was no reply. Receding back into herself, she waited as more security guards passed her and went about their business. Every one she scanned and every one came up negative. Some time later, a second man came up to the desk and relieved the first of duty. She had come to the conclusion that it was some kind of customer reception area or something of the sort. She snorted.

_Not much service out there for a building that had no entrance._ She scoffed. _ I know I wouldn't shop here._

Suddenly there was a flurry of movement down the corridor that caught her attention, as well as everyone else's. From a small door a ways down the hall a exasperated male voice could be heard screaming.

"Ziggy!" it yelled. "You hone me in on Sam THIS INSTANT!!!!"

"I am working on it as fast as I can, Admiral," a pleasant female voice said. It sounded slightly peeved, and seemed to come from nowhere. Wanda honed in on the female voice as best she could from her location, but got nothing. Grunting, frustrated, she decided to go for a more direct approach, and possibly get farther into the building to investigate. She transformed herself into a medium height woman with pink hair and a very curvaceous body. She walked up to the desk she had been observing for the past hour and leaned against it, letting her feminine charms get her as far as possible with the guard. What ever this place was, it obviously wasn't visitor friendly.

"Hi," she drawled when the guard looked up at her. "Could you help me with something?" The guard punched a button and began to speak into a mike before she even got the chance to say more.

"Admiral Calavicci," he said as monotonously as possible while still being respectful, "your..._gues­t_...is here." He spat the word guest like she was an escort or something. She narrowed her eyes and was about to bark at him for it, when the door she had heard the voice from earlier opened. A short little Italian in a brightly coloured and extremely grotesque suit stepped out huffily.

"Can you not see I'm..." he stopped as he saw Wanda and eyed her up and down. It made her sick. "Hey babe." He moaned. She ignored him and began to search for her friend in him. As her soul touched his mind, she felt the jolt of Nana's presence, as well as a crushing suffocation she couldn't explain. She began to physically gasp for air and fell to the ground, severing her link. The man quickly came over and helped her up.

"Are you alright?" he asked with genuine concern, though not wholly unmixed with lust.

"Yes," she replied, primly straightening herself out. "I'm fine. I need to speak to you..." She was cut off by the ominous female voice as it came on again.

"Admiral, you are needed in the Imaging Chamber," it said sweetly yet urgently. The admiral swore under his breath.

"Hey, look," he said as he stepped away from Wanda. "Can we talk later maybe; over dinner or something?"

"I really don't have that sort of ..." Wanda watched as he disappeared into the room he had exited out of. "...time."

Al stormed into the Imaging Chamber and readied himself to appear next to Sam. He was rather upset about being torn away from the babe in the lounge. But if Ziggy said he was needed, he was needed, and probably for something serious by the sounds of it. He hadn't really been thrilled with being called away from his friend in the first place, but Sam had seemed to be doing fine on his own, and the real trouble wasn't even going to be starting soon according to Ziggy's observations. He punched some keys on the handlink agitatedly, but gave up when it returned nothing.

"What's wrong with Sam?" he asked as he was transported to the location. Ziggy didn't answer. Al didn't care much when he saw the view. "Oh God," he swore. Before him was Sam, bloody and still, on the floor of the church. He was wearing his robes for confessional, and judging by the ragged holes in the screen between the two booths, he had been shot by the confessor. A wound on his scull was gushing his vital fluid like mad. Al nearly broke down and cried. Several people were standing over his friend, trying to revive him, but none of them noticed Al; no one could see him.

"Don't die on me, Sam," he ordered, panic rising in his voice as his desperate helplessness began to take over.

Nana watched as the images ran into his subconscious. She recognized the woman in the thoughts even without the connection the fairy had made with her. She had tried to rein some of the poison back so Wanda wouldn't get hit with it, and had succeeded in containing almost all of it, but the pink haired woman still got hit hard. Nana shook her astral head and sighed before leaving. Her other charge needed her desperately at the moment.

She watched the images flit by in her current Dreamer's head and read his memories as they passed her to be entered in his short term memory. She sighed; why did he always have to chase skirts at the most inopportune times? She saw the familiar pattern of events that meant they were going to Sam. She waited patiently until she saw the unfamiliar scenery to where her second Dreamer lay. He was wearing a confessional gown, and was bleeding badly from his left temple. She felt the pain rip through Al and was almost thrown out by his mind. She looked down at her arms and saw the skin beginning to turn green. In desperation she sent thoughts of Sam standing up, holding his head, and saying it had only grazed him. It seemed to work, as her skin returned to its normal pale colour. She watched as he knelt beside the Leaper and tried to pick him up. With one last wave of reassuring thoughts, hoping it would sooth his fears and feelings of helplessness.

"Don't die on me, Sam," she heard him say.

"He won't," she whispered into his psyche. She felt it relax, and the acidic hurt that had washed through him start to abate.

As soon as Al was calmed, she darted into the second man's body. She sifted at light speed through his mental barriers, hearing Al's furtive prayer to God to let his friend be alive, and stopped when she reached a little boy, cuddled in a corner. She could feel the hurt and confusion surrounding the boy, among many other emotions. He looked up at her as she neared; tear streaked face full of fear and torment.

"Please don't make me go," he begged. She smiled at him softly and took the guise of his mother. She was never really sure what she looked like when she did this. It was so hard to find anything in the poor thing's mind. She bent in front of him and smiled.

"But Samuel," she said softly, "your friend needs you. You don't want to leave Albert all alone, do you?" The boy shook his head mournfully as Nana pulled him into a reassuring hug. "Don't worry," she cooed.

"But it hurts out there," he whimpered.

"I know," she sympathized. "But you're scaring Albert. He thinks your dead, honey, and it's making him hurt inside. See?" She waved one arm in the air, still holding him with the other; the events outside unfolding before them. The young counterpart of Sam stared at it for a minute. He began to sob again as he watched the tears in Al's eyes start to brim. Nana felt the emotions in his mind start to change to compassion and love for his friend.

"Are you ready to help him?" Nana asked softly after a minute. The boy nodded solemnly, never taking his eyes off of the image of his friend.

"Will you be with me, Nana?" the boy asked as he pulled away.

"I'll only be as far away as Al," she promised. Then she stood with the boy and kissing her fingertips, she crossed herself and closed his eyes. "Peace be with you," she whispered. "Awake."

Wanda sat in the waiting area nervously. She chewed her lip as she thought of Timmy.

"Please," she prayed, turning her face to the ceiling, "Don't let anything happen to Timmy." Suddenly the door opened behind her, and the Italian man came out again. She watched anxiously as he came toward her and smiled.

"I'm sorry," he said charmingly, "I didn't get your name earlier."

"Wanda," she blurted without stopping to think that it might seem like a strange name to him. She covered her left hand with her right, and formed a wedding ring there, hoping to scare him off a bit. She uncovered her hand and held it up to him to kiss, as in old school manners. He looked at the ring for a second, but didn't seem fazed as he bent down to kiss the proffered hand.

"My name is Admiral Calavicci," he returned. "But I take it you didn't come to talk to me." Wanda started.

_How did he know?_ She wondered to herself. Then it dawned on her.

"Nana?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah," the admiral replied, grinning ear to ear. "Sorry I just had to! Don't worry, he's sleeping." Wanda looked confused, but agreed anyways. Nana laughed. "Let's get him to bed," she said, "Then we can leave. I know you must've come for help; you always do." With that in the way of an explanation she walked to a second room and motioned for Wanda to follow. Inside the room, Calavicci's body slumped on to a cot against the wall, and curled up in dreamless sleep. Wanda was suddenly aware of a second consciousness brushing her mind. Almost instantaneously Cosmo was floating beside her. He smiled and grabbed her hand.

"Well," Cosmo said. "Let's go!"

A/N Okay, I've never actually seen the first ones yet, or any of them that show just WHAT project QL looks like, but I'm guessing it's the funky electric blue mountain in the beginning of every episode, am I right? Also, since I haven't seen the end of the series and how that all works, this is DURING the series. No where in particular, just somewhere. It doesn't really matter for this fic, anyways. But if you really insist on a place, I kinda last minute decided on the episode where he's a priest and he gets shot in the confessional booth (no, duh! If you read this far, you noticed that already). Sadly, most of my info about what goes on in the actual building comes from fanfics I've read. When I find out the truth for myself I will edit what needs to be. Also, I promised I would explain all the funky messed up junk I've been writing and not explaining, and it will be in the next chapter I swear!


	5. Lullabies

A/N Um...I haven't much to say, other than Thank you to my two poor reviewers that I didn't even know I had until Sunday. Sorry I didn't answer you sooner!

Officer 1BDI::: I'm sorry to confuse you all, but at the same time, I really meant to. I love stories with suspense, and figured I'd write one of mine like that. Don't worry, you won't really have to catch on to the Quantum Leap thing; it's not an important part of the story...unless the reader's want it to be...(hint hint). And I can't tell you why Timmy's having bad dreams, you have to read it (this chapter, by the way. Just so you know what to look out for.)

Feariefan::: gets big watery anime eyes you don't know _how_ much it means to me that you like my writing style. I'm so glad it was descriptive enough...I rewrote it twice because I felt I was rushing (points to self perfectionist.) But knowing someone out there loves it makes me happy. Hopefully the confusion will end in this chapter. Well...some of it...

"_I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I tried, but there was nothing I could do." She watched through a dammed up lake of tears as his entire manner fell. She saw the hurt and loss in his eyes as he slumped forward. Just as quickly he became rigid, sorrow still evident in his eyes, but not given in to. He turned and walked away without a single word, leaving her to her own defeat. She watched his retreating back for a moment, and then unable to control herself any longer she spun about and fled_. Me

(This has nothing to do with the story...yet. I might bring it in, but I just had a sudden inspiration to write it as an entro. Weird o.O)

Cosmo sat wearily at the foot of Timmy's bed. The small boy's cries were minimal, and the faerie was able to curb most of them from getting out of hand by singing a bar of the song he had used earlier. Timmy's breath quickened again as Cosmo began to drift off into his own slumber, abruptly bringing him back to the waking world. He didn't even bother to rush up next to Timmy, like he had the first 50 times. He just began to sing from his heart. He had discovered after about 80 times that the lullaby had no affect without heartfelt emotion behind it, and lethargy didn't count.

_Fairy elves are softly treading,  
Folding buds as they pass by._

Cosmo finished the phrase and sighed. Timmy was softly sleeping again; no worries seemed to be flitting behind his eyes. He stilled and began to breathe more peacefully again. Cosmo turned his thoughts toward anything he could to keep him awake and found himself thinking of how he'd learned the song, and more appropriately, who he'd learned it for.

It had been one of Wanda and his' first godchildren together. She had been a sweet little girl with no family and no friends, nothing but a name; Lilith. He remembered how her brown curls used to bob as she skipped about trying to peddle her way in life. Her pale skin and sparkling grey eyes attracted many unwanted guests, and he and his wife had been tempted many times to reveal themselves to help her. But they had known it would do nothing but harm her in the end, so they had to watch and wait. She had always been strong, though, and had never given in to any of the men who badgered her daily for un-offered goods. She always returned to her godparents with a smile.

_So young_, he thought to himself. _She was such a little angel._

"_**Cosmo! Wanda!"**_

Cosmo leaned back on the bed, supporting himself with his arms and stared up at the ceiling as the memories flooded over him.

_**Wanda smiled at the young girl running at them. It was a beautiful spring day and they were enjoying it on the barrows. **_

"_**What is it, Sweetie?" Wanda asked. The girl flopped down beside them, all smiles and sunshine.**_

Cosmo shut his eyes and held back tears. He could hear her voice, lilting and alive; he could see her smiling face as it radiated its own heavenly light at anyone who wanted it, smell the sunshine and the flowers woven into her dark brown tresses. She was almost faerie like; her Celtic roots firmly centered in the heart of Erin. She had an otherworldly air to her that Cosmo could feel whenever he was around her, and he could have sworn he felt it now; but he knew better. He wasn't stupid like the world thought; he knew the Rules, all five of them. He blocked himself from coming to terms and accepting she was gone as he continued to revel in the memory.

_**The little girl got up, giggling, and began to frolic again. Cosmo shook his head merrily.**_

"**_She's just a kid, Wanda," he said, placing a hand on her arm lovingly. "Besides, I like our alone time." Wanda began to giggle almost as childishly as their goddaughter had been moments before. She batted at him playfully, blushing all the while._**

"**_Cosmo," she admonished giddily, "not in front of Lilith!" Cosmo glanced up to see Lilith was far from interested in whatever they were doing. She skipped happily along, chasing butterflies and stopping guardedly every time she saw a mushroom. He smiled._**

"**_I don't think she'll mind," he whispered as he leaned over her to steal a kiss._**

That had been the day before Lilith had begun to have the dreams. Cosmo searched his memory of the last week to see if any of the things Timmy had done were similar to Lilith, but came up empty. Timmy had just been normal.

_What could possibly have happened to him?_ Cosmo wondered. He envisioned Timmy's writhing, tortured body, wracked by sobs and covered in sweat, and felt helpless knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tried to push the thoughts from his mind, and found himself slipping back to Lilith and her trauma.

"**_Lilith, are you alright?" Cosmo and Wanda stared at their godchild with concern. She looked horrible, even for just rolling out of bed. Her eyes were dull; dark circles ringing them, and her skin seemed to be an unhealthy shade of...blue._**

"**_Yeah," Lilith replied flatly, "whatever." Wanda had refrained from answering that and bit her tongue. She turned to Cosmo, who was still puzzling over the blue tint to their godchild's skin. As Lilith left the room he turned to face his wife's gazer with apprehension. _**

"_**Maybe it was just a bad night," Wanda said, trying to assure herself.**_

"_**Her skin was blue," Cosmo objected.**_

"_**Well, maybe she wasn't covered well enough," Wanda suggested.**_

"_**I don't think that was the problem," he replied. They heard Lilith leave to go to town and sighed. There wasn't anything they could do now.**_

Cosmo leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, letting the blood return to his hands. That had been the day she returned covered in bruises. They should have guessed there was a problem then, but neither one of them had enough experience to know.

This had gone on for a week, slowly getting worse every day until the night she woke them up. He remembered what had happened when Wanda had returned with help. He hoped they would be so lucky this time.

"_**Cosmo?"**_

_**Cosmo turned to see Wanda standing behind him, their childhood friend in tow. He felt the relief wash over him, knowing that she would know what to do.**_

"**_Oh Pearl," he breathed, "Thank you for coming." _**

**_Pearl rushed straight passed him, flicking a soft smile his way as she went. He felt her brush his mind as she did. Sudden ease came over him and he turned to where Lilith was once again sleeping. As Pearl came up to her the she transformed into a faerie; her lithe body glistening in an unearthly light, and her blonde hair wispily floating about her face. Her sparkling blue eyes held magic beyond any earthly measure as they gazed on the child before her. Lilith had been flailing about seconds earlier, but as soon as the woman came near her she began to still. Pearl stroked her hair and began to sing:_**

_Lullaby, twilight is spreading  
Silver wings over the sky;  
Fairy elves are softly treading,  
Folding buds as they pass by.  
Lullaby, whisper and sigh,  
Lullaby, lullaby._

**_As soon as she began, Lilith calmed. A burden seemed to lift off of her little body and she started to breathe the peaceful breaths of sleep. Pearl turned to them when she was satisfied the child was at peace, and her whole demeanor changed._**

"**_You two," she grated. "Next room; we need to talk." Both followed her tentatively, not sure what she was going to do. When they were far enough away from Lilith for Pearl's comfort, she sighed. "Something's seriously wrong with her," she said, crossing her arms in front of her._**

"_**Uh," Wanda answered sardonically, "we already knew that." Nana glared at her.**_

"**_I mean," she spat, "she did this to herself."_**

"_**WHAT!?" Both faeries stood aghast. Nana nodded.**_

"_**Her Dream was out cold," she told them. "I had to revive her. That girl doesn't belong here."**_

"_**How can you say that?" Wanda asked with hurt in her voice. "She's just a little girl!" Nana placed one on her hip and jabbed the other at the doorway they had just entered through.**_

"_**Wanda," she protested, "she's not even human." **_

Cosmo tried to shut out this part of the memory, but it was too late. His mind kept going without him.

_**Cosmo felt his mind reeling at the fact. As he thought about it, there were unearthly things about her, but he wouldn't allow it.**_

"**_What should we do if this happens again?" he asked, firmly conveying they were going to be this child's godparents to the end. Nana looked at him as if begging him to reconsider. When he didn't back down, she shook her head and gave up._**

"_**I'll teach you a song to sing," she said. "It should put her right to sleep."**_

Cosmo looked over at the sleeping boy beside him and smiled. The song she had taught them was the one she had used, and it had always worked for them. Unfortunately Cosmo was learning that it didn't work so well on all children.

His revelry was stopped by Timmy's once again disturbed noises. As he was opening his mouth to sing the calming tune Wanda returned, Pearl right beside her. For a second, the image of himself was floating beside his wife, but as suddenly as they appeared she reverted to herself. Cosmo recognized the short red hair and golden eyes instantly. He smiled.

"Hey Pearl," he greeted. She smiled at him.

"Hey Cos'," she replied.

Pearl moved toward the bed where Timmy was sleeping, and realized just what she was here to do. She turned on the pink haired fairy beside her.

"You didn't tell me it was a child!" she snapped.

"I figured you would have guessed," Wanda countered. Pearl glared at her.

"You didn't tell me a thing!" she exclaimed. "You just pulled me over here!"

"Oh come on!" Wanda said. "What did you expect? We found some bum on the street that needed money? We are faeries, we do kids; you are a Dream, you do dreams. You do the math!"

"Oh, and now I'm just supposed to know everything! I thought it was Cos-cos!"

"Oh don't give me that! You knew perfectly well that it wasn't."

Timmy's nightmare was becoming more unruly as they fought, and Cosmo began to sing to calm him.

_Lullaby, twilight is spreading  
Silver wings over the sky;_

Pearl stopped as she was about to say something and turned toward Cosmo.

"Glad you remembered," she chuckled, "but it won't work." Timmy had quieted, and both faeries looked at her in confusion.

"But he's not tossing anymore," Wanda pointed out. Pearl laughed.

"I know," she said, "but he'll start up again any minute. That song wasn't made for him."

Quickly she moved over to his bedside and smiled down on him. As she came close to him, she turned into his mother. She rubbed his back, up a few times, and then down again before opening her mouth.

_Home is behind, the world ahead,_

_And there are many paths to tread,_

_Through shadows to the edge of night,_

_Until the stars are all alight._

_Then world behind and home ahead,_

_We'll wander back to home and bed._

As the music lilted about the room, Cosmo and Wanda began to feel an immense sense of peace. Everything seemed to be aright in the world for just that brief period, and nothing could harm anyone. Beautiful visions filled there heads of ancient forests and the enchanted beings that lived there coming to guard the godson.

Just as with Lilith ages ago, Timmy stopped his struggle, and all inner turmoil seemed to cease. Pearl smiled sweetly down at the sleeping innocent and combed her fingers through his hair. Suddenly darkness seemed to come over her and the tranquility brought by her song was shattered. Cosmo felt a knot in the pit of stomach start to twist as he recognized the shear terror that crossed the Dream's face. As if in a trance she fell to her knees beside Timmy, hands still entwined in his hair.

"Oh God," she whispered. "Where is he?" All three heard a bodiless voice answer.

"With Lucifer."_  
_

Ooo!!! I lied! Next chapter, though, I swear! I didn't expect this chapter to be quite so long. Just this part has exceded what I thought the whole thing would be, and this is only _maybe_ the first half. Next chapter, though, a _SWEAR_ the confusion will be explained. Well, most of it...okay, ALL of it. I can't take the suspense any more!!! Oh wait...I'm writing this, aren't I? Oops!

Erin is a term for Ireland. Just wanted you all to know that, incase you found it confusing And if anyone knows their religions, you might recognize even more about this godchild (HINT HINT!!!!!)

R&R!!!!

Oh, and ZIGGY WAS WRONG!!!! I _DO_ HAVE FANS!!!!!


	6. Questions somewhat answered

A/N Your very welcome, faeriefan. I also think I'm going to add Quantum Leap in this more, but you can all think of it as a Author Character...but it's not.... Also, I changed some stuff in the last chappie and it's kinda confusing in this one if you don't know, so to summarize; Nana is referred to as Pearl (I'll explain why), and Pearl changes into someone or something else every time she goes near someone (I'll explain that, too). Oh, and if I switch my spelling of faerie a bit, please forgive me, I'm trying to train it out of me.

Cosmo and Wanda stared at their long time acquaintance in interest at her reaction to Timmy's mind, and even more so at the brief conversation they had just heard. Neither her or Cosmo wondered who had been the second speaker, they both knew perfectly well. Pearl sat numbly on the floor for a few minutes, oblivious to everything else until Cosmo broke the silence.

"Uh," he asked tentatively, "what's wrong?" Pearl turned to him, still in a daze. Cosmo noticed the look of horror deep in her eyes and felt thje pit of his stomach fall. For her to be this troubled, it had to be something disasterous.

"His Dream," she whispered. "He's missing." Wanda materialized a chair for herself and sat down heavily.

"So you know him?" she asked. "Why did you come then?"

"I told you," she gritted at her pink friend. "I thought it was Cosmo. You know as well as I do that heavenly beings don't have Dreams."

"Lilith did," was the hissed reply. Pearl huffed at her.

"That was a mistake."

The two glared at each other hatefully for a minute before brushing the matter beside. Cosmo was glad. He hated it when them and their friends fought, though it happened often. Almost all of them were hot tempered.

"Oh, Wan-wan," the Dream Sprite sighed wistfully. "We've been friends too long to let that get in the way. Besides, she's happy now." Wanda nodded.

"Your right," she agreed as she conjured up a cup of tea and a table in front of her. "She's got quite a following now." Cosmo made a chair for himself at the table and sat down as well. Pearl came over to them, shedding the guise of Mrs. Turner as if she were walking through a curtain, and went to sit down. A chair formed beneath her, flowing out of her body in a wisp of smoke and into solid form. Neither faerie seemed to notice as they brought forth an entire setting for tea with their wands. The three completely forgot about Timmy as they caught up on each other's lives.

"So how's Mage?" Pearl asked. "I haven't heard from her in, what, a good five millennia?"

"Oh didn't you hear?" Cosmo answered. "She was put on level 18 probation for causing the ice age. I don't know how she did it, but they blame it on her." Pearl smiled over her raised cup at him before taking a sip.

"As I recall," she ventured, "we were all a tad bit _drunk_ that night, am I correct?" Her two comrades looked at each other, searching for the answer. "Let me refresh your memory," she said as she split into two curls of smoke, each heading for a different faerie.

"NO!" they exclaimed. Pearl reformed into her normal redheaded figure, one arm reached out to either faerie as the mist had been. She looked slightly disappointed, but the faeries let out a relieved sigh.

"I mean," Wanda covered, "we remember just fine, Nana." Pearl glared at her vehemently.

"My name is Pearl!" she barked.

"Just 'cause your mother gave you a stupid name doesn't mean you have to take it out on us," Cosmo complained, coming to Wanda's defense.

"And just 'cause your smart doesn't mean your stupid pills should kick in at the most inopportune moment," Pearl bit back. Neither faerie seemed to have understood her statement as they gave her blank looks.

"How did you know about Cosmo's stupid pills?" Wanda asked. Pearl rolled her eyes.

"Guys," she sighed, "I've known you since we were born! You couldn't keep squat from me even if you tried!"

"Um," Cosmo interjected, getting rather uncomfortable with the conversations direction, "back to Mage."

"Oh," Pearl said. "Yes, about Mage. So you haven't seen her since then?"

"Oh no," Wanda corrected, "we've seen her. She's a teacher at Timmy's school." She poured herself another cup of tea and began to add cream and sugar. "First grade, right?" The last was directed at Cosmo, who shook his head and swallowed his mouthful of scone.

"She's a substitute," he amended her. Wanda nodded and lifted the cup to her lips.

"Oh," Pearl stated. "I see." Wanda snatched the last scone before her husband could. Cosmo pouted at her as she scowled at him. Pearl smiled fondly at their subconscious antics.

"So what's going on with Rorin and Guinness?" Wanda asked as she scraped butter on her pastry.

Pearl became quiet and a distant look drifted over her face. She held her cup to her lips for a moment, not taking a drink or even noticing that she was holding it. She seemed to be weighing how much information she could safely tell them.

"Well," she sighed, biting her lip, "Rorin's on level 15 probation for forced entry into a Guardian's mind and tampering. He'd better get his act together soon or else he'll be on level 16, and I don't think we could function if that happened. He's the only transportation we have between our Dreamers and each other. Guinny, on the other hand..." Pearl put down her cup and folded her hands in a formal posture. She let out a breath as if trying to steal herself against some inner turmoil. "Guinness has the Plague."

"Oh my gosh!" Cosmo exclaimed. Wanda dropped her cup, shattering the fragile porcelain. Pearl winced at the sound.

"I thought they'd just made that up," Wanda admitted. "Oh, Pearl, I'm so sorry." Pearl regained her composure and smiled at her friends.

"It's alright," she assured them. "We warned her not to take that one, but she insisted. I've been the one taking care of him since he was a baby, anyway. She just couldn't handle the bad things. You know how frail she is; she's dreadful with anguish." She smiled a little as she lifted her cup to drink, only to realize it was empty. She shot a look at Cosmo and saw him playing innocent. Pearl found herself chuckling at his antics.

"So who's Dreamer was that that I saw you in inside that mountain?" Wanda asked. Pearl took a second to judge whether she should answer or not, but gave in at last.

"Guinny's," she answered with a shrug. "So tell me some things about your godchild. Maybe it would help if I knew what's been going on lately."

The faeries caught on to the change in topic and decided not to push the topic of Pearl's issues and farther.

"That's the thing," Cosmo replied. "He hasn't been acting strange at all. Nothing other than the usual problems with school and parents; you know, kid stuff." Pearl grunted an affirmative. Wanda guessed that to mean one of her three charges was a child.

"So," Cosmo hinted hopefully, "does this mean you're going to help us?" Pearl grinned.

"No," she responded flatly.

_One colour blind coot and a child._ Wanda thought. _I wonder what the third one is. And in the New Mexico time zone..._

"Wanda?" Pearl asked, disrupting her thoughts. "It's almost seven o'clock. Shouldn't you wake your charge?" Wanda looked around and noticed the sun beginning to filter in the window. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and stretched with a yawn.

"He has an alarm clock that wakes him up," she explained. Pearl nodded.

"Well, that leaves one last question to be answered," she said casually. Wanda felt a sense of dread creep over her.

_What if she asks something we can't answer?_ She panicked. _ Or something to make us look bad. She is kind of mad at the moment._

"What's the date?"

Wanda let out the breath she'd been holding unawares.

"November, A.D. 2003," she replied. Pearl convulsed in her seat.

"You didn't tell me you were going to take me out of my time zone!" she exclaimed. Wanda felt her heart sink. Not because of Pearl's reaction, but because she realized what Guinness had meant by 'time zone'. But she understood why; you were not supposed to give out information about your charges to anyone, especially someone of a different kind. Wanda being her ever nosy self, however pushed the subject for more answers.

"What time zone is that?" she asked. Pearl looked at her calculatingly.

"New Mexico," she answered.

_Damn,_ Wanda cursed at herself. _She never drops a hint unintentionally, does she?_

Just then, Timmy's alarm started to go off. All three of them ignored it, knowing that the boy would need some answers that they probably couldn't give in each other's presence, and that would mean taking turns being in the room with each other. A thought occurred to the pink faerie and she made to voice it, but was cut off by Pearl.

"No," she assured, "he can't see me. Ignore him until he comes to us," she commanded as Cosmo began to get up. Cosmo sank back down into his chair as she had bid him to do. "So," she continued as if nothing had happened, "nice weather you're having."

Timmy woke up to his alarm clock's shrill ring. He groggily slapped it to turn it off and groaned. It took him a second to realize that he hadn't waken up because of a nightmare for the first time this week.

_Hey!_ He thought to himself. _No nightmares! I'm cured!!!_

"It hasn't rained all month," he heard Wanda saying. He sat up a little to see where his godparents were, and located them at the far side of his room, taking tea.

"It hasn't rained all month," he heard Wanda saying. He sat up a little to see where his godparents were, and located them at the far side of his room, taking tea. Wanda seemed to be listening to somebody speaking to her, but Timmy couldn't hear anything.

"I think it's nice," Cosmo replied to the unheard voice. "Rain is so dismal."

_Since when has Cosmo known what dismal meant?_ Timmy questioned. He jumped out of bed and headed toward them.

"Hey guys," he greeted. "Who're you talking to?"

"Oh, hi Timmy!" Wanda chirped, avoiding the question. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Fine," he answered. "Who are you talking to?" Timmy noticed the look she cast toward an unoccupied corner of the room close beside her.

"Uh," she bluffed. "No one."

"Yeah right," he scoffed. "Who is it? Some one I'm not supposed to know about?"

"We can't tell you," Cosmo answered. Both faeries looked to the empty corner for a moment in concentration.

"Could you?" Wanda asked the empty corner. A second later Timmy felt something brush the corner of his mind. As it touched him a sense of happiness overcame him. It lingered for a moment after the thing had left, then was quickly replaced by misery as his parents burst into his room with a battering ram.

"Oh Timmy!" His parents chorused through his now busted doorway. Cosmo and Wanda quickly turned themselves into goldfish and dropped into their fishbowl.

"Your mother and I had a strange dream last night about going to the beach and having a blast," his father explained.

"So," his mother finished, "We're going to the beach without you to have a fun-filled afternoon! Vicki will be here any minute." Timmy sighed woefully as his parents left. The two faeries appeared by his side again as soon as it was safe.

"Man, this stinks," he complained. Downstairs the doorbell rang. He heard his parents leaving and headed to the window to watch them go. "Why don't they ever take me with them?" Behind him Vicki's voice made him start.

"It's normal," she dismissed. Timmy spun around to see his most hated enemy standing behind him. He panicked. He hadn't heard her enter the room, and Cosmo and Wanda were in plain view. Suddenly he realized that neither Cosmo nor Wanda seemed surprised at Vicki's materialization in his room, and neither was making any move to hide themselves.

"What's going on!?" He squeaked. "Cosmo, Wanda, why aren't you..."

"Oh it's fine, Timmy," Wanda reassured him. "This is a very good friend of ours. She's here to help."

"But it's Vicky!" he exclaimed, waving his hands at his dreaded babysitter. She seemed unfazed, and settled back on her feet, crossing her arms as if waiting to hear how the conversation would go.

"No, that's just what she looks like to you," Wanda said. "That's what she does." Timmy looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Is there a form you would prefer over this?" Vicky's voice sent him into a fright, his mind forgetting that this Vicky who was in the room with them apparently wasn't really Vicky. "Maybe..." the thing he had felt earlier brushed his mind again, he felt the same sense of happiness and then suddenly Vicky was gone, and standing in her place was none other than Trixie Tang. "Is this better, Empty Bus Seat?" she asked.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!" Timmy shouted after getting over his shock at Trixie's appearance and Vicky's disappearance in his bedroom.

"She's a Dream Sprite, honey," Wanda tried to explain. "Her job is to make your dreams good ones, and keep the bad ones away."

"So why does she look like Trixie Tang?" he asked. "And Vicky before that?"

"Well..." Wanda mumbled.

"She's not _your_ Dream Sprite, Timmy," Cosmo interjected. "She's just standing in. She doesn't know your mind, so when she touches it, she just assumes the first form she sees in it. You couldn't see her if she didn't assume a form from your mind." Timmy stared at him quizzically.

"How'd you get so smart?" he asked. "And while that was an interesting bit of information. It didn't answer my question."

"Ah!" Cosmo exclaimed and fled to the castle in his fishbowl. Wanda watched as he left, then turned to their godchild as he closed the door to their home.

"I look like this because you can't see me unless I assume a form you know," Trixie answered.

"Besides, we've grown up with Pearl since we were born," Wanda explained. "Of course he'd know."

"Pearl?" he asked. He turned to the impostor Trixie. "That would be you?" Trixie smiled at him.

"You sure are smart, Tommy," she praised. Timmy felt his heart flutter, but forced it to stop.

_This isn't _really_ Trixie, stupid!_ He admonished himself.

"Yeesh," Trixie huffed. She rolled her eyes as if she was exasperated with herself. "Does she really call you those things, or are you just sick?"

"No," he answered. "She really calls me that. And why do you say I'm sick?" Trixie ignored him as Cosmo returned from his house. She looked up at the green faerie and cocked an eyebrow.

"Pills?" she asked. Cosmo gave her an empty look.

"What pills?" he queried. Trixie just nodded. She shrugged and took Timmy's hand suddenly, heading for the door.

"Wait!" Timmy said, trying to offer some resistance, but finding it hard to fight against his crush on Trixie, even though it wasn't her.

"Home made breakfast is better for you than poofed up breakfast, and you need to eat," she replied, not even waiting for him to voice the question.

"How do you do that?" he asked. She just smiled.

"I'm in your mind, Timmy," she answered sweetly. "I know what you're going to say or think before you do." Timmy turned to his godparents who were trailing behind them with a look of panic and confusion.

"She means your subconscious, honey," Wanda assured him, reading the look on his face for one coming from Pearl's last statement. "It knows before your conscious does, and that's where Dreams live." Timmy excepted the answer, but it was evident he still didn't understand. Wanda ignored it; she couldn't explain it any better.

The four of them headed downstairs to the kitchen, where Pearl disconnected herself from Timmy and headed for the stove. As she neared the counter she walked out of Trixie's body and into his mothers. Timmy turned ashen as he watched; his faeries took no notice of the strange action. Pearl herself didn't seem fazed in the slightest by the abrupt change in size and height. It was almost as if it was common place for her. Pulling down the pancake mix and taking some milk and eggs out of the fridge she began to mix up the batter and scramble some eggs. She poured the batter into a greased skillet and returned to the fridge for bacon. As she bustled about she began sing to herself. It was a tune Timmy had heard once or twice on the radio station his mom loved so much. It was an old song that he had thought was pretty stupid, but his mom always cried when she heard it. Listening to his mom sing it, though, left him feeling different than it normally did when he sat through it in the car. He felt as if he was about to dry as he listened to her pour the words out from her heart:

_Imagine there's no heaven,  
It's easy if you try,  
No hell below us,  
Above us only sky,  
Imagine all the people  
living for today...  
  
Imagine there's no countries,  
It isn't hard to do,  
Nothing to kill or die for,  
No religion too,  
Imagine all the people  
living life in peace...  
  
Imagine no possessions,  
I wonder if you can,  
No need for greed or hunger,  
A brotherhood of man,  
Imagine all the people  
Sharing all the world...  
  
You may say I'm a dreamer,  
but I'm not the only one,  
I hope some day you'll join us,  
And the world will live as one._

As his mom finished the end of the song she looked up at the ceiling and smiled. Timmy, coming out of the stupor the song had cast him into, figured it was some personal thing and he decided not to push it. He looked over at his faeries and saw that they were coming out of the same enchantment he had been in.

_What was that?_ He wondered. He turned back to where his mom was standing at the counter. She was shaking her head and then she turned around, arms laden with food. Timmy resisted the urge to drool as he stared at the mounds of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. All queries about what had just happened fleeing his mind. His mom set the plates on the table in front of him and smacked his hand as he reached out for the bacon.

"Have you no manners," she joked. She turned and brought back three plates, setting one in front of each fairy and one in front of Timmy. She then created a plate and a cream jug and placed them in front of Cosmo and Wanda. On the plate he saw a stack of thin yellow pancakes that smelled sweeter than the fluffy ones she put down in front of him. Wanda merrily picked one up and put it on her plate, pouring the contents of the cream jug over it. Thick cream with blueberries mixed into it drizzled out of the container and onto the strange pastry as Wanda's eyes lit up hungrily.

"What is that?" Timmy asked. Wanda handed the plate to Cosmo and took the empty one for herself.

"They're crepes," she said as she put another one of the thin pancakes on the second plate. She repeated the process of pouring the cream over it, then wrapped it up into a cylinder and began to cut into it. "It's a personal favorite of ours." She leaned forward over the table toward Pearl, who had returned to the form of Trixie. Timmy still found it unsettling, but he wasn't quite so jumpy anymore. Wanda was smiling at Pearl as she excitedly reminisced.

"Remember our wedding?" she asked happily. Timmy listened closely. Neither of his godparents had ever spoken of the event, and he had never really thought about it before.

"You mean the crepe disaster?" Trixie egged. She turned to Timmy, knowing he hadn't a clue. "This oh-so graceful faerie you see before us," she said as she pointed to Wanda, "was _so_ nervous. All the girls went to Moiríe's for breakfast, it's a French restaurant where we come from; and she spilled the whole jug of blueberry cream on herself! She was such a wreck! We literally had to drag her back to the chapel to get hitched. She was so sure that she just couldn't get married after having ruined her breakfast." Pearl turned back to Wanda and wrinkled her nose in a smile.

"Hey!" Wanda defended gaily. "Don't forget about Cosmo! He was no better!"

"What happened with Cosmo?" Timmy asked. He was beginning to feel like he needed a drink when suddenly a hot cocoa appeared in front of him. He was startled, because he hadn't wished for one. He looked at his faerie godparents who were completely oblivious to him, and then to Trixie. Trixie winked at him, acknowledging his question, and then answered his first inquiry.

"Cosie-kins went missing," she snickered. "We spent three hours looking for him, and finally found him in the rafters, holding on to one of the central support beams for dear life. It took us almost two hours to get him down once we found him!" Timmy laughed so hard he began to choke. Wanda reached over quickly and tapped his shoulder blades with her wand, making the offending food particle blocking his air vanish. Timmy smiled through his gasp of breath and noticed Trixie was sitting nonchalantly at the other side of the table. He hadn't really been aware of the fact that she hadn't been eating until now, and he voiced the thought to her. Trixie just smiled at him.

"Oh I don't need to eat like you do," she replied as she leaned back in her chair. "My Dreamers are my food." Timmy didn't like the sound of that. He studied her warily, trying to place what she was saying.

_Is she, like, a cannibal or something?_ He wondered to himself. Trixie laughed, causing him to jump a bit.

"Oh what an imagination you have!" she cajoled. "No I don't _eat_ them, I feed off of them like Cosmo and Wanda feed off of you."

Trixie suddenly realized what she had said as she watched Timmy's eyes get wider by the second. Cosmo and Wanda glanced at each other and then to her in panic. The atmosphere around the table suddenly became very hostile. Trixie sat back farther in her chair bringing it up on two legs, trying to remain as laid-back as possible. She didn't want this to get out of hand. It was obvious by Timmy's reaction that his godparents had never told him about how they functioned, and her suspicions were confirmed by their own words as they admonished her for telling.

"We never told him because we thought it would scare him," Wanda explained.

"No duh!" Timmy shouted. "What do you do? Suck my blood when I sleep?" Trixie snorted at the comment and leaned forward onto the table.

"Oh don't be daft!" she snorted at him. "They would never do anything like that to you, even if that _was_ how you do it."

"Then what do you do?" Timmy shot back, rubbing his neck, searching for bite marks. Trixie rolled her eyes. She was really starting to get annoyed with this kid.

"Emotions," she replied with a flick of her wrist. She settled back in her chair again, resuming her indifferent air. "I'm sure you've noticed how your mood affects them." She gestured at Cosmo and Wanda. "That's because they feed off of your happiness. It makes them happy, and that sustains them, like food and drink sustain you."

"And you?" Timmy asked. "You said you weren't my Dream, so what are you getting your emotions from?" Trixie let out an amused laugh.

"I get mine from my Dreamers," she said. She shot a dirty look in Cosmo and Wanda's direction. "Thankfully their still alive," she snapped at them. Both looked abashed and turned away from her glare. Timmy felt very lost. He had no idea what the statement or the look was for, but he guessed that his godparents had done something wrong by the way they were acting. He opened his mouth to ask but got the impression he should just let it be. Instead he thought of something else.

"Who is my Dream?" he asked rather abruptly. Cosmo and Wanda started as they turned to him, but Trixie remained reclined.

"I can't tell you that, Tommy," she said. He jumped down from the table and went over beside her chair.

"Why not?" he demanded. She looked at him and smiled.

"Because it's against The Regulations," she answered. Timmy just stared at her, befuddled. "It's like Da Rulez, only it's for Dreams," she explained, understanding his look of confusion.

"Jeeze!" he whined, throwing his arms in the air. "Does everybody have rules?" Trixie got down from her seat and stood beside Timmy. She smiled at him, something Timmy was starting to realize she did a lot. She took his hands in hers, patting them softly.

"Oh Empty Bus Seat," she soothed, "of course we all have rules. I do, Cosmo and Wanda do, angels do, even Guardians and humans do. And we have to abide by those rules or else serious repercussions will ensue."

Timmy stared at her for a second before stuttering. "What's a repercussion?" Pearl just stared at him and began to sweat. Cosmo and Wanda came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"He's ten, Pearl," Wanda reminded her. "He doesn't understand big words any more than Cosmo does." Pearl nodded in understanding and restated her sentence.

"You'll have to pay the consequences," she said. "And," she continued from Timmy's thoughts, "A guardian is a being sent to protect a way of life at a major turn in events."

"You know," Wanda added, "like with Hitler in World War One."

"He was a guardian?" Timmy concluded. Trixie laughed heartily for a moment, then wiping a tear from her eye she continued.

"Oh no," she giggled. "Though, he did act like it. Guardians are one of the more complex of the heavenly beings. It's not easy to explain. You see, Dream Sprites take care of your thoughts, hopes and dreams and take care of your subconscious. Faeries take care of your physical needs and your conscious. Angels take care of your astral needs and your spiritual needs. Guardians, though, they take care of an entire planet as a whole. When something drastic happens that sways the entire planet, plane, or something other that's of large significance, guardians are deployed to take care of the problem. There are always at least two, one for each side of the conflict. They fight it out in whatever way they feel adequate, and whoever wins the fight determines the outcome of the milestone."

Timmy stared at her, trying to absorb all the information that had just been given to him and decided that he might as well stop trying. Trixie nodded at his inner turmoil over the knowledge and patted his hands again before releasing them.

"Someday you'll understand," she assured him.

A/N Okay, so it's not the best place to end, nor is it the best chapter I've written so far, but hey, I tried. R&R! I hope I explained enough to take away some of the confusion that has riddled you all. See you next chapter!!!


	7. On their own

A/N Sorry I be gone so much, yar. I was working on a different story with a friend of mine. Read it when you're in the mood and it's posted. At the moment, I'm still writing it. Yar. Yar is my word. It means nothing. Yar . Oh, and sorry if some of my past chapters were confusing due to random skipping around, I hear it's a lot more sensible now, though. See I use asterisks to separate my sections and also to talk about my moving, but it's not showing them when I post, SO I'm going to experiment with the little wavy things and see if they work. Oh, and it might get kind of confusing again, because Pearl a.k.a. Nana's Dreamers _are_ going to be a significant part. Remember what a Dreamer is? Good. If not, they're like a...it's too confusing. They are normal everyday people, and Dream Sprites are the part that is really important. They take care of your dreams and feed off of them. Makes no sense? Timmy doesn't think so either.

elsewhere

An older Italian stood in the middle of a darkened room. He wasn't sure what he was doing there, and found it rather frustrating, especially since he was supposed to be out helping his stranded friend. For lack of anything else to do, he pulled out a cigar and began to pull on it. With nothing else to distract his mind, he began to brood.

still elsewhere

A young man in his early forties looked around at the dark room. There was nothing there for him to really focus on, so he gave up. Sighing he rocked back on his heels, placing his hands in his pockets and blowing a breath up to his one white lock, which was sweeping across his forehead.

and STILL elsewhere

A pretty little brunette sat on the floor with her knees pulled to her and moped. She always moped. Her second husband had left her for moping. All her friends had left because of her moping as well. The only person who had never been irritated by her moping was her first husband, but that was because she never moped with him. She moped now because of him. Because he left, and because she thought he was dead, and because she had remarried, and because he had come back. For all these things she moped. So she did just that; she moped.

where everything is elsewhere from

Timmy swung his legs off of the couch. Cosmo and Wanda had been talking a long time with the thing that looked like Trixie. They kept calling her Pearl, reminding him that it wasn't his school mate goddess, but some quack that looked just like her because he wanted her to, or something. He still didn't really get it, but he had given up trying when Pearl had decided to demonstrate.

She had instructed the three of them to stand in opposite corners of the yard and she would go to each one of them. As they moved away from her she had disappeared to Timmy. Cosmo and Wanda had assured him that she was still there, but he couldn't see her true form because he was mortal. That had really freaked him out. It took them forever to get him to stop asking questions before Pearl could demonstrate. The closer she had gotten to Timmy, the more he could see her, until all of a sudden she was Trixie. Then she had moved away, fading into nothing, and appeared as Cosmo next to Wanda. Again moving away from her mental target, she headed to the real Cosmo. Timmy had expected her to stay invisible, but had been surprised to see instead, the very image of Wanda. Wanda had seemed to melt at this, and when they were all together again, she explained why.

This was a sort of game in heaven, or wherever they came from. ((A/N ha ha!!! Now do you recognize the Pearly Gates from chappie one!?)) All participants would stand far enough apart that the thoughts couldn't be jumbled, and a Dream Sprite would pass to each one, revealing who or what they were thinking about. Ever since the first time Cosmo and Wanda had played together, Cosmo's thoughts had been about Wanda; that's actually how she found out about his feelings for her. They had very animatedly told him all about growing up together until he was sick of it all.

Now Cosmo and Wanda were starting to wind down and Pearl was starting to dwell on other things. Cosmo and Wanda came up on either side of their godchild and smiled at their friend.

"Thank you for agreeing to help," Wanda said with gratitude.

"Oh," Pearl laughed, "It was nothing. I'm sure A...everyone is okay," she covered up her mistake quickly. Timmy huffed exasperatedly.

"I wish you would just tell us," he moaned. Cosmo and Wanda looked at each other, as if debating whether to grant the wish or not. Pearl just glared at them.

"We can't, Timmy," Wanda apologized. "It just isn't right."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because it's an invasion of privacy," Cosmo explained. "Besides, it's not allowed."

"That's right," Pearl chirped. "And now, I will be going. My Dreamers need me, and you're all on the right track to fixing your little problem."

"What?" Cosmo panicked. "But we still need you."

Pearl, who had been dematerializing into a wisp of vapor, stopped and stared at him incredulously. She quickly slipped back into the body of Trixie and glared at them, hands on hips.

"I can't believe you people!" She exclaimed. "I have three Dreamers I need to take care of, two of them being extremely volatile, and you want me to sit around and take on a fourth; one that's not even in my other three's time line, no less!" The three on the couch stared at her in shock for a moment. Finally Timmy broke the silence.

"Jeeze," he grumbled. "Why is she acting so huffy?" Cosmo and Wanda shot worried glances at each other. They had both noticed a sickly hue starting to creep over Pearl's body, and as the tint of it got deeper, her temper began to fowl. Both agreeing it was time to let her take care of her own business, they consulted with Timmy.

"Honey," Wanda suggested, "Maybe we should let her go. We can try to look on our own, after all."

"Yeah," Cosmo agreed, "and if it doesn't work, we can always call her back." The three looked over at Pearl for verification, but she was gone. Timmy sighed.

"Well," Timmy admitted, "I guess we have no choice."

Pearl materialized in a dark room as a cloud of smoke. She felt sick. She had begun to notice the sickly tint to her skin after breakfast with Cosmo and Wanda, and it had only escalated from there. As she looked around she could feel all three entities in the room, but they couldn't feel her or each other. She sighed sadly as she looked in on each of her Dreamers. She wished she could tell them, let them see, but it wasn't possible; the Regulations would never allow it. Two of the three seemed little more than bored, though one was brooding nastily, so she left them to their own devices for a while longer as she headed for the third. Entering the dream room of her only true Dreamer, she smiled.

"Beth," she whispered. A normally perky little brunette turned to face her, misery written all over her beautiful features. Pearl felt her heart break as the part of her attached to her sister's Dreamer saw the image. She forced that part of her down, knowing if she didn't she would begin to contract more signs of the plague. She forced the part connected to her brother's Dreamer down as well, and focused solely on her own; this woman before her. The woman seemed to brighten at the sight of her Dream and even cracked a smile.

"Pearl!" She breathed with relief. "I was afraid you'd left, too." Pearl smiled and wrapped herself around the middle aged nurse. She forced happy thoughts on the woman and felt herself begin to heal slightly.

"I would never leave you, Beth," she cooed. The words themselves seemed to take an even bigger effect on Beth as more of her pain vanished. As Pearl encircled her Dreamer she felt all the sorrows that the woman had been dwelling on engulf her, making her physical image spin wildly. She tried to concentrate on one, but it was too difficult, so she chose her own.

Beth saw the mist envelope her. She knew it was Pearl, she always did. This had been part of their ritual ever since her first husband had gone off to war. She tried to relaxed and pick a thought for Pearl to focus on, but she couldn't. She was just too depressed. She felt the overwhelming sadness start to wash over her again when Pearl suddenly picked a form, and stood before her. The form didn't help, but she loved it anyway; it was her favorite and Pearl's too, for some reason. She sighed and fell forward into Pearl's arms. Something about the form, though it hurt to remember, also helped lift her spirits, and chase away her sorrow. Even though it was just a dream, she felt so safe and secure again. She felt blissfully overjoyed. Snuggling into the forms strong chest she smiled.

"Oh Al," she sighed.

Pearl chose quickly and waited for Beth to react. As she fell forward into Pearl's outstretched arms, the Dream took its leave. It was a trick she'd learned back in the beginning; she would take the form of her sister's Dreamer, Beth's first husband, Al, and then would leave to go retrieve the man. Pearl would go to Al as Beth in whatever mood she was in and fall into his arms. Only a few times had he ever missed the opportunity to hold her, and those were times when she had neglected to calm his nightmares before they got unruly; instead opting to take care of her other two charges first. She knew better than to do that again.

When the two were in sync with each others' dreams, she would place them together. Both thought that it was Pearl before them, when in reality it was their true soul mate, but Pearl could never tell them that. It wasn't allowed. What she did wasn't technically allowed, but they loved each other so much, she couldn't help but bend the rules.

As Pearl worked the plan in her mind, she entered Al's dream room. Quickly assuming the guise of Beth, she rushed at him, like a child who didn't want to be separated from a loved one.

"Oh Al!" she sighed, flinging herself in his waiting embrace. As his arms moved to encircle her, she transported him to the real Beth, and left them on their own. Another benefit of this was it made two of her Dreamers happy, while keeping them occupied so she could spend time with the third. She zoomed down the imaginary passageways to her brother's Dreamer and quickly dropped all guises as she entered his chamber. She loved this Dreamer because there was nothing for her to be in his dreams. Sometimes she was his wife or his daughter, but he usually didn't remember them, leaving her to be herself. This was allowed in the dream realm, thankfully; if it weren't she'd be in quite a mess with this one.

"Hello Sam," she greeted as she entered the room. He turned and smiled at her.

"Hi Pearl," he replied. She smiled and called up two chairs and a table from the ground. Sam seated himself in one of them as Pearl took the other for herself. Sam called up a pot of coffee and poured himself a cup, passing the container when he was done. Pearl smiled mischievously.

"Why didn't you just do that while I was gone?" she teased. "Were you trying to make me feel sorry for you or something?" Sam looked at her over the top of his cup as he took a swig. Placing the cup back on the table he sighed.

"You know I can't do that when you're not around," he replied.

"Only because you won't let yourself," Pearl countered. "It's a _dream_ Samuel. You can do anything you want." Sam shrugged.

"Even dreams have rules," he said.

back in Dimmsdale

"This stinks!" Timmy yelled. Cosmo and Wanda tried to calm him down, but to no avail. The eleven year old was irate, and it was all they could do to keep him from making a stupid wish.

"Timmy," Wanda said, trying to console him, "she was acting funny before she left; maybe there was something wrong with one of her dreamers." Cosmo nodded in agreement. Timmy looked at him oddly for a moment. Ever since that lady had come around, Cosmo had been acting really smart. It was kind of weird.

"What's going on?" he asked suddenly. Both of his fairies were startled by his sudden change of topic and looked at each other hesitantly for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Wanda finally stammered. Timmy glared at her.

"You know what I mean," he retorted. "Why is Cosmo being so smart now? And why are you two being so edgy? What aren't you telling me?" Wanda started to object, but Timmy would have none of it. "I WISH YOU'D TELL ME!!!" he shouted at her. He smirked as she squirmed; knowing she had to tell him now that he'd wished it.

"What we're doing isn't allowed, Timmy," Wanda answered finally. "We could get in a lot of trouble if anyone found out about this."

"Found out about what?" he asked naively.

"Bringing Pearl here," Wanda explained. "We're not supposed to interfere with each other, and this is considered one of the strongest forms of interference." Timmy stared at her with a confused look on his face. He was so wound up in what Wanda had just said that he completely forgot his first question. "Anyway," Wanda rushed on, "we can probably finish this without further help from Pearl."

"Huh?" Timmy exclaimed.

"Getting your Dream Sprite back," Wanda said. "Didn't you understand? That's why you've been having such bad dreams lately, Timmy; your Dream Sprite is missing."

"Oh," he replied weakly.

"And it's up to us to find him!" Cosmo cheered. "Or her!" He stopped for a second to think before adding, "Or maybe it."

A/N O my gosh! Sorry it took so long, but this chapter just wouldn't come out right. Hopefully the next one will be better. R&R!!!


	8. Maybe

A/N Wow, been forever! Sorry about the huge pause, got a little bit of writers block, then a little 'I-don't-care' and the a little Christmas rush. However thank you all those of you who have been waiting patiently for me to continue. Sorry for the grammar fall-out and the overall wonkiness; I haven't written anything in over a month and it shows. Okay, now on with the story. OooOOOooooOOOh O.o

::::::story::::::

"Why did you do a stupid thing like that, Rorin?!?" The spikey haired brunette behind the counter jumped at the irate screeching coming from the doorway. He looked up and saw the wispy vision of a red haired woman, her angelic white robes swirling about her legs and adding to the inhuman image floating there.

"You would have done it too in reverse situation," Rorin objected, once again relaxed in his seat behind the desk top. The astral figure before him threw a heated look his way and stormed up to the desk, stopping just short of actually going threw it.

"I would have given some warning," it hissed. "Do you know just how conspicuous a seemingly forty year old woman with magenta eyes and hair _is_ in New Mexico?" Rorin kept his calm as he began to clean under his fingernails.

"Completely normal?" he guessed. The figure before him nearly exploded as its hair began to flame. The sight was enough to make grown men soil themselves, but the young man went unfazed.

"_COMPLETELY NORMAL_!?!" the being bellowed. "Rorin that wasn't the eighties or some psychedelic trip, it's 1999 in a top secret experiment base! Are you mad!?" Finally Rorin had had quite enough. With an exasperated huff he leaned forward and pointedly looked the smoldering apparition straight in the eye.

"Pearl," he said, "drop it. What else was I supposed to do? It's Cos' and Wanda we're talking about here, and if you hadn't noticed another one of our kind is missing. So it hit a little closer to home and I took a few added liberties; Gabriel already came and talked to me about it." Leaning back again he returned to his nails as he continued: "Now stop being such a drama queen and put out your hair."

Pearl looked at him with indignation for a second before smoothing the fire out of her tresses. When she seemed more composed Rorin started again.

"Where are you coming from?" he asked in a much more business like tone.

"1999," she replied smoothly, "I've just now woken them up." Pearl sighed sadly and began to toy with a bit of cloth from her dress, focusing her downcast eyes on it with fierce single mindedness. Rorin began to worry as she continued: "Beth had another episode while I was gone."

Rorin panicked for a second and made to bolt out of his seat when Pearl looked up at him finally and motioned for him to stay.

"I took the brunt of it," she assured. "Guinny is fine, I promise." The look on Rorin's face told multitudes of relief and Pearl was no stranger to the feeling. While most people would never be able to tell, Rorin was very protective of Guinny. She had always been frail and more or less helpless, but she was their sister and the youngest at that. Neither Rorin nor herself would let anything hurt her if they could help it.

Finally she smiled at her brother. Rorin returned his attention to her as she moved to sit on the counter top, floating a few inches above it instead. She leaned forward and cupped her brother's chin in her delicate fingers as she continued: "We'll work something out for Cosmo's charge, alright?" Rorin nodded in defeat. Pearl sat upright again before moving to the door.

"If Cos and Wanwan come calling again just fly them directly to me, alright?" she instructed. Smiling sympathetically she turned and vanished. Rorin sighed in frustration when she was gone. He would help if only he could, but his probation refused him to even leave his "office". He pushed the thought to the back of his mind again as he returned to his job. This was becoming quite a little problem and it had Darkness written all over it.

:::::::scene:::::::

Pearl lounged in her Dreamer's mind contemplating the situation. Perhaps it was nothing, a mistake or such, but she highly doubted it. She had touched that place where all Dreams lay and had found nothing but fear and chaos. The emptiness had been frightening and she had only barely bean able to discern who the Dream Sprite was. Pearl shuddered as she thought of it. His name was Skylar. He was a very interactive Sprite, liked to have some physical form in the daytime that was in some way connected to his Dreamer. Usually he would be a neighbor or a classmate by that name of Skylar. Once he had even been his Dreamer's twin. Pearl smiled with tear filled eyes as she remembered. And now he was gone. She shuddered at the thought of what must have happened.

"Poor Sky'," she muttered to herself. "What's happened to you?" Hot tears began to flow down her cheeks as she thought back to a time when she and the missing had spoken often. They had dated for a while before deciding to be no more than friends, but even that didn't last as they were never assigned together. She could remember everything about him. The way his voice would often crack like a pubescent boy, the way his eyes always glistened with the hint of some death defying trick. He was a wild one for sure.

Finally she sighed in defeat. Whatever had happened, she was powerless. She did have three Dreamer's of her own to watch over, after all. She would aid in whatever way possible, but she knew that was a short-handed gesture. Maybe something would come up that would allow her to be more helpful to her friends, but she doubted it.

:::::::scene::::::::

Timmy quaked as he looked out his window at the glistening stars. Cosmo and Wanda were nearby; trying to sooth his fears and lay him down.

"Are you sure I won't have any nightmares?" he asked shakily. He could still feel the after effects of the last one and he didn't want to do that again.

"Sweety, Pearl knows what she's doing," Wanda assured.

"Yeah," Cosmo agreed, "if she says this will work then it will work." Timmy stared at Cosmo for a moment, trying to grasp why these two had such faith in that flake. But despite his fears and the voicing of them, his faeries still held complete faith in his visitor of that morning. Wanda laid him down on his bed as his mind was occupied and he gave no resistance. Finally he stirred, whining.

"I don't want to go to bed," he complained. "I'm just gonna have nightmares again." Neither of his faeries listened to him. Instead, Wanda took his hand and began stroking it and Cosmo lay down beside him. He was about to protest again when Wanda began to sing. At first it sounded like her voice, lack of singing abilities included; but as he listened he began to hear a different voice instead. He knew it from somewhere, but as he began to drowse off he couldn't place where. Finally the chords of the song struck him and he was out cold. Wanda continued to sing just for good measure.

_Home is behind, the world ahead,  
And there are many paths to tread,  
Through shadows to the edge of night,  
Until the stars are all alight.  
Then world behind and home ahead,  
We'll wander back to home and bed.  
_

Cosmo and Wanda watched as their godson's breath slowed to that of a deep sleep. Both of them worried over how well the song would work, but neither would voice it, especially not to Timmy. Sighing, Cosmo turned to his wife and began to sit up.

"Should we stay here or find a safer place?" he asked. Wanda bit her lip as she stared at the sleeping child. She knew they should find a safer place, but she just couldn't leave him. Finally she shook her head, not tearing her eyes from her godson.

"I…don't know," she whispered. Cosmo came up behind her and lovingly nuzzled her cheek.

"Get some rest," he cooed, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'll watch over him tonight."

Wanda turned to look at her husband for a moment. She stared into his eyes and a kind of communication that only exists between close friends took place. Finally she nodded and began to head for the fishbowl only to find she was falling. She felt Cosmo grab her and realized she was a teddy bear. He turned her so she could see him and smiled.

"That's not what I meant," he chided. Gently he put her down beside Timmy, who immediately pulled the toy to him. She smiled a threaded smile and placed her little stuffed arms around him as much as possible before drifting off herself.

Cosmo smiled down at the two before sinking deep into his own brood, one ear open for any disturbance from Timmy. He had seen how disturbed Pearl was when she probed Timmy's mind and figured it was something personal. And if Pearl knew somebody, all of them did. Cosmo raked his brain trying to think of any Dream Sprite they knew who it could possibly be. Pearl and her siblings were off the list for sure as all of them were accounted for. He tried and tried, searching for one name that would have sent Pearl into chills if it wasn't her younger brother or sister. Finally, unable to come up with anything, he materialized a television and remote and began flipping channels. On one channel they were showing Mystery Men, and he stopped to watch for a bit before moving on. Finally he stopped at a talk show who claimed to be hosting Chip Skylark next. Suddenly a panic broke loose on screen. Cosmo tuned in a little bit more, barely even listening for Timmy now. The commentator tried to stay calm as he announced that Chip Skylark was missing and had not been seen for over a week. Cosmo jumped as realization hit him. He turned off the tv and poofed it away as he sat in shock of his new discovery. He turned to Timmy, who was still sleeping quite peacefully, and the equally peaceful Wanda-teddy and debated whether to wake her. Finally he decided against it and created for himself some cheese and crackers to munch on as he waited.

It would be a long night.

:::::::end:::::::

So whadya think? Sorry it took so long, I just ran out of gumption I guess.  I just had to put that gooey gooshie sweet part in between Cosmo and Wanda. I did, really! Maybe if people review I'll update faster, eh? Doubt it, but it's worth a try.


	9. Dreams

A/N A large portion of this fanfic is dedicated to Crazyfairy who brought up the Juandissimo thing. And the fact that every story I've read lately has some sort of a dream sequence and I guess it just kind of rubbed off. Here goes.

::::story:::::

"_Wanda, get you butt down here!" Wanda stopped brushing her immaculate hair to stair out her window. On the sidewalk below stood seven children about her age; thereof them were faeries like herself, and the other four were Dream Sprites. One of the faeries, a red headed girl with sparkling green eyes, had her hands cupped in front of her mouth to amplify her voice. Wanda smiled down at them._

"_You really don't need that, Mage," she taunted the red headed faerie, "you're loud enough as it is." The faerie below her began to storm at the insult, turning to her companions._

"_You heard that, didn't you?" she asked the assembly of friends. "Y'know, this is what I get."_

"_Yeah," an orange-ish red headed Dream Sprite agreed. "The funniest part is she's right!" She darted away as Mage made a swipe at her, laughing all the time. Wanda giggled from her window before rushing out of her room, just pausing long enough to grab her things. As she ran out the front doors she saw that the squabble had escalated quite a bit. Two of the other Dream Sprites had entered in on it and a black haired faerie was trying to reel Mage in as she went after the insulting Sprite. The two non-participants turned to her as she exited and waved._

"_Better stay back, Wan," the Sprite said. He had ruffled black hair and pale blue eyes that spoke volumes for his character. Wanda batted at him carelessly._

"_Oh they do this all the time," she replied. "You'll get used to it, Skylar." Turning to the Sprite who had started the fight she yelled: "Pearl! Stop it. We'll be late for school." Pearl and Mage both looked at her for a moment before they stopped fighting and rejoined the group._

"_Hey Wanwan," Pearl greeted. "What took you so long?" Neither Pearl nor Mage seemed to remember their deep feud of a second ago as the troupe moved on down the road. The black haired faerie walked close beside Wanda in the front, Pearl and Skylar walked close as well, being the other couple in the group, with the other two Dream Sprites, Guinness and Rorin, close around them. Mage and the third faerie, Cosmo, were mixed somewhere in the group, constantly darting about. Wanda smiled at her boyfriend and he returned the look of affection._

"_Juan' I was wondering…" Wanda never got to finish her sentence as Cosmo came crashing down between the two of them, an arm around each of their shoulders. Wanda let out a squeak of surprise and Juandisimo had an equally shocked look on his face._

"_Hey c'mon guys," Cosmo cheered, "don't be such strangers! We're all back here trying to figure out what to do this weekend and you two are off in la la land!"_

_Wanda smiled with embarrassment. "Sorry," she chuckled._

"_We weren't paying attention," Juan added with a tender smile for Wanda. They were quickly interrupted by Cosmo as he continued hurriedly to explain the last fifteen minutes worth of conversation in one breath._

"_Guinny wants to go down to one of the creation exhibits, Mage and Pearl think we should go to Faerie World and Rorin doesn't care." He said. "I think we should go to Moiríe's or something." Wanda perked up considerably and turned to him in delight._

"_Oh, I like your idea, Cos," she said. "Wadda ya thing, Juan?" Juandissimo looked equally excited as he fully turned to the green haired boy hanging off his shoulder._

"_I love their soufflés!" he exclaimed.Wanda giggled at him as did many others of their group, though none of them would admit it._

"_Moiríe's it is," Rorin confirmed. No one objected; they all loved Moiríe's._

::::scene:::::

_You're safe, don't worry._

_Timmy spun, know he had heard that voice before. Maybe it was nothing, but he was sure it was important to remember. As he continued to look he hear the voice again. I seemed to be coming from all sides, enveloping him in a gentle feeling of safety._

_Don't worry lil' dude, you're in good hands._

_Timmy found himself smiling in easeas he drifted back toward wakefulness._

::::scene:::::

"**You know if you ever have a problem, all you have to do is call." **

Cosmo smiled as he remembered his friends' words so long ago. They had all made the same pact, but somehow it never was to be. Mage had been revoked her wand and wings, Rorin was on the second to last level of probation, Guinny was sick, and Pearl was picking up the pieces. Everyone had their own problems, and he knew it. He just wished that they could find some help with Timmy's problem. They might be able to do this on their own, but somehow he doubted it. There was something sinister involved that they couldn't fight alone, not without leaving their godchild behind.

As he came out of his musings he saw the predawn tint coming through the window and smiled. Timmy hadn't been disturbed once all night; the song had worked. He heard a stirring behind him and turned to see his wife awakening, trying to dislodge herself and pop her little stuffed back.

"Sleep well?" he asked softly, so as not to disturb Timmy. She smiled sleepily and nodded.

"I had a dream," she yawned.

"Oh?" Cosmo intoned.

"Yup," she replied. "And I have the feeling he'll be alright. At least for now."

Cosmo smiled as his wife came to sit beside him and watch the sun rise. As he held his wife close he felt her calm fall over him as well. He knew everything would be okay, though he wasn't sure why. The golden red beams of light dancing about them entranced them both for the short while they lasted, leaving a warm glow in their hearts for a few minutes after they had passed.

They stayed like that for several hours, not speaking or worrying, but just being content to be with one another. Though it lasted several hours, both were sore to leave the moment when Timmy finally woke up. They turned to watch him stretch, yawning, before he finally looked at them.

"Hey guys," he greeted with a grated voice. "I had the weirdest dream last night. Is that what Pearl really looks like? And who are Rorin and Guinny and Mage? Why were you all being so nice to Juandissimo? And who was that guy Skylar and what did he look exactly like Chip Skylark?" Wanda and Cosmo looked at each other with side long glances for a second before sighing in defeat.

"C',mon Sport," Wanda said, "we'll tell you over breakfast."

:::::end:::::

So wadya think? Not really who you were expecting to be having those dreams, eh?


	10. Intermission

A/N: Mkay, well I seem to have been neglecting my poor fanfics (no duh-hur!) for quite some time now and I feel really bad about it, but I just don't have any ideas for a lot of them. Or the ideas just don't want to come out on paper. So, in order to keep you all in a somewhat happy state (and to make me feel like I'm actually _doing_ something on my fics) I am adopting the "intermission" chapter. I've seen it once or twice and I really like the idea; a short mini story within the story to keep posts frequent even if the story isn't being written too terribly fast. And so, here's one for my poor Fairly Odd Parents fic that will probably never get finished. This is completely dedicated to Spiritual Magic. I still can't believe you trekked down to my Fruits Basket fic to ask me if I'd keep writing FOP. /shakes head/ You're amazing. ((P.S. Beware the OOC. I haven't seen an episode of FOP sinceAugust. Yeah.))

**Once**

"I'm bored."

"You're always bored."

"I'm bored."

"We heard you."

"I'm bored."

"We know."

"I'm bored."

"Stop it."

"I'm bored."

"Shut up!"

"I'm bored."

A heavily embroidered side pillow went flying through the air and the intended target, a slight girl with long red hair and liquid gold eyes, easily ducked to the side and out of the trajectory range. She smirked absently at the now rearmed aggressor; an extremely short girl with comically red hair pulled into a high ponytail and dangerously slanted green eyes.

"But," the first stated innocently, the evil glint of mischief in her eyes unmistakable as her voice dropped back into a monotone. "I'm bored."

"Nyah!" The second girl screeched in frustration.

"Mage, give it up," a green haired, green eyed boy sighed around the edges of his book. The ponytail-ed girl, Mage, turned to him with a piteous look on her face.

"But Cosmo," she whined, "Pearl's annoying the spunk out of me."

Cosmo chuckled and put aside his hefty tome to smile up at her reassuringly. Standing he moved towards her and absently patted her head.

"Believe me," he assured, "You have more than enough spunk for all of us." Redirecting his attention at the other girl he continued. "But Pearl, please stop taunting her. It's giving the rest of us a headache, too."

"Fine," the other girl pouted, "steal all my fun."

"Remind me again," a soft voice asked, breaking the three way tension that was building up next to the couch. "Why are we in here?"

Every one turned to look at the youngest in the group and in the process remembered that, yes, they were all present. Wanda sat behind the couch looking more that a little peeved; Juandissimo was laying on his back and had previously been staring at the light fixture over head; Rorin was tossing a ball between one hand and the other while leaning against the wall opposite the couch; Pearl was sitting against the far wall on quite a nest egg of pillows, all having been supplied by Mage who was sitting backwards on a chair a few feet away from Juandissimo's head; Skylar was standing in the corner, absently finding patterns in the spackled ceiling and Cosmo, who had been until recently sitting on the couch beside which Wanda sulked. Guinny, to whom all attention was more or less riveted, was standing across the room from Pearl and tapping her forehead lightly.

"Well," Rorin began, never ceasing in his pursuits with the ball, "I'd like to know that too. But what I'd _really_ like to know is how we're going to get out." At this Wanda directed her scowl at him.

"Well that's a problem, now isn't it?" she spat.

"Wanda," Juandissimo warned, not looking away from the light fixture to which his attention had been returned to. Cosmo sighed wearily. Wanda didn't pay either of them any attention.

"If you hadn't noticed," she continued scathingly, "there isn't a door."

"Wanda!" Both Cosmo and Juandissimo reprimanded.

"What?" She snapped, craning her neck further around the couch to see them and give them equally vehement looks.

"Here we go again," Skylar sighed softly, trying his best to ignore them all. _How did I get stuck with these people?_

.:Doink:.

"I'm bored."

"Yes, we know."

"I'm bored."

"Yes, Timmy."

"I'm bored."

"Timmy, please."

"I'm bored."

"Just be patient."

"I'm bored."

"We're trying, Timmy."

"I'm bored."

Wanda gritted her teeth and tried desperately to fight the urge to throw a pillow at her godson. Cosmo was blissfully unawares as he stared at the ceiling and made patterns in the spackle with his wand. It was hopeless.

"That was a really boring wish, Timmy," Cosmo stated happily. He really wasn't paying any attention, was he?

"Yeah, well," Timmy shot back in his defense, "how was I supposed to know the safest place in the world was also the boringest?"

Wanda fought the urge to correct him on using nonexistent words. She really wondered how she always managed to end up in situations like this. Some of her frustrations softened as she thought about it.

"_Hey guys, why are there fluorescent lights in heaven?"_

Wanda suppressed a chuckle and smiled forlornly as her thoughts drifted back to happier times. Funny how such a bleak happening can seem to heartwarming years later. A room, similar to this one only much bigger, and seven friends stuck inside. It had been hell when it happened and now she would give anything to have it back. To be able to give her friends hugs, to not have to worry about anything like she did now. She sighed, lost in her thoughts.

"Hey Wanda?" Cosmo asked, still making patterns on the ceiling. She turned to him and saw the glint in his eyes; the one from way back when, when they didn't have to worry about godchildren and such. The one that said he knew something and he wanted to see if she did, too.

"What, honey?" she asked, her anxiety melting as her childhood spirit came back at the look in his green orbs.

"Why is it so bright, but there aren't any lights?" Cosmo smirked as she got what he was saying. She knew her eyes were sparkling just as much as his with all the suppressed mirth she was containing within herself byholding her laughter. She had been such an idiot not to realize it. Thank goodness Cosmo's stupid pills had worn off.

"Because we're in heaven, sweetheart," she replied. Now she knew how to get them out. And with all her youthful vigor, she did.

.:End:.

A/N: Yeah, drabble. Sorry! But at least it's an update, right? Um, I saw in one of the old (very old) reviews that someone had asked about the Goddess and how she worked into it. Well…remember Lilith? Y'know, from earlier in the story? That's her. Heh, yeah. So now every religion in the world is going to be down my neck, but the thought is God and the Goddess are equals, like Yin and Yang, and are more or less married…at least, that's the best way to describe it. She got bored I guess, not much real reason but whatever the reason she came to earth as a human and forgot who she was. So she appeared, even to herself, to be a normal human girl. Except she wasn't and that caused problems. But everything is all good now and she's back up there, doing her thing. Did that answer the question? I hope so.

Oh, and all of you, be happy. I got an idea for this story, even if it is only a brief one that won't keep the story too much afloat. _At least it's an idea_! Woot!


End file.
